Retrospection - A Much Better Version
by crono23
Summary: Pretty much the same as the old one, but written in a way that doesn't suck.


"Hey guys! You hear the good news?" Sue's voice rang out from the background noise of the cafeteria. Everyone at the lunchroom table she was walking towards looked up, taking note of the sunny smile plastered across her face.

An inquisitive look formed on several faces as she gradually approached the table and sat down. When nobody said anything, Sue decided to respond for them. "We're going on a field trip to Maraschino tomorrow!"

Ignoring the pained groans that came from several people around her, Sue continued to keep up the cheery demeanor, until Paulo eventually spoke up.

"Great, another stupid field trip. Just what kinda boring stuff are we gonna be looking at this time?"

Sue's face almost instantly changed to an irritated look, as she glanced over at Paulo who seemed even more miserable than anyone else at the table. "For your information," She stated, "We'll be visiting the Maraschino Museum of History. Plenty of stuff I'm sure even _you_ will find interesting."

This did nothing to calm Paulo. "Oh gooood, history? Are you seriously, _seriously,_ excited about shit like that?"

Paulo's continued display did nothing to calm Sue. Her face soured even further and her tail began to twitch in increased frustration. "It hasn't even happened yet." She said flatly, irritation all too apparent in her voice.

Paulo simply brushed it off. "Don't need to experience it to know I'll be bored to fuckin' tears."

"Guys...be nice..." Daisy offered, her voice going unheard amongst the increased tension in the air.

Sue stared at Paulo incredulously. "Would it kill you to give it a chance?"

Hardly any time passed for Paulo to respond. "Yes."

Sue's face grew dark, and she bowed her head, teeth beginning to grind together slightly with anger. "Why do you always act like this?"

Paulo was momentarily confused. "Act like what?"

"Like..." Sue searched for the words, "Like _that_." She finished, unable to think of a proper way to describe him. "Is it really so hard to care about the interests of others?"

Paulo scoffed in return. "How bout you fix the stick up your ass before you criticize me?" He asked defensively. A strange feeling of regret overcame him as the words left his mouth, but he felt no need to apologize.

Eyes grew wide, yet voices were kept silent as the tension between the two cats grew thick enough to cut with a knife. A few considered speaking up, but quickly decided against it as they noticed Sue's claws beginning to scratch the table.

Eventually Paulo managed to break eye contact with Sue, yet he still felt her eyes digging into him. He leaned back, attempting to relax while Sue eventually gave up, sighing heavily as she motioned to leave her seat, "Why do I bother with you people," Was all she mumbled as she began to walk away.

Everyone watched as Sue walked out of the cafeteria, still not daring to say a thing. As soon as she disappeared from sight, Paulo suddenly became the focus of everyone. He pretended not to notice, or care, but a light slap on the arm from Mike made Paulo snap out of it.

"Hey, what th-" Paulo opened his mouth to complain, but quickly found himself cut off as he noticed everyone at the table looking at him with varying degrees of anger. Paulo faltered, but attempted to ignore it.

But he could not. Daisy, Mike...even David seemed a little disappointed from his actions. Paulo began to sweat slightly, and he smiled nervously.

"I...I didn't think I was that mean..." Paulo attempted to defend himself, but he gave up when their faces refused to change. Paulo sighed in defeat and slowly rose from his chair, "Okay fine, I'll go talk to her..."

Walking out into the hallway where he had seen Sue gone, Paulo peeked around one of the corners. Sue stood in the middle of the abandoned hallway with her back towards him. Her ears were flattened and her tail drooped significantly. Paulo ducked back behind the wall, attempting to think of a way to approach the situation.

When he was unable to think of anything, Paulo peeked around the corner again, a jolt of fear rushing through him as he immediately noticed she was facing his direction. She quickly spotted him, and his attempts to hide again failed as he heard her voice call out to him: "What do you want?"

Hearing a bit of sadness and anger in her voice, Paulo swallowed hard as he realized his words had done a lot more to her than he had suspected. Slowly walking into her view, Paulo grew nervous as he noticed a hurt expression on her face.

Seeing that Sue wouldn't say anything to him yet, Paulo coughed awkwardly as he opened his mouth to speak, "H-hey Sue...I uhhh...I wanted to say sorry for...earlier..." Seeing her expression remain the same, his face grew blank as he hoped it was enough.

Sue sighed at him, face becoming slightly worse in terms of sadness, "Are you really?"

Paulo was caught off guard, "Uhh...yeah?"

Sue's face remained unchanging, "Fix the stick up your ass before you criticize me? You really think a small apology like that will fix it?"

"Well, uhhh..." Paulo began to sweat again, unable to think of anything to calm her, "I didn't think it was that bad..?"

"Not that bad." She stated, face beginning to twist into one of anger. "You really think I want to hear 'fix the stick up your ass' from someone like _you_?"

"...What?"

"Listen yourself Paulo," She responded, anger now prevalent in her voice, " _You_ are the one that needs to hear 'fix the stick up your ass'. You always act like some do-no-wrong jerk and nobody ever calls you out on it!"

"Excuse me?"

Sue groaned, "Are you really that oblivious? I've hardly ever seen you act nice! It's always something sarcastic, or maybe you didn't think it was that bad a thing to say, or hey I could totally ditch my girlfriend for a whole new one!"

"Do you think it's _easy_ to act like a whole different person?" Paulo snapped through gritted teeth, attempting to defend himself.

"No, but you could at least _try_!"

"Yeah. Try," Paulo said sarcastically, "You're one to talk."

Now it was Sue's turn to be confused, "Huh?"

Paulo's face soured and he took a step forward. "Okay fine. Maybe I am a bit of a jerk. But do you think I _want_ to be this way? Believe it or not, I _have_ tried being a better person," Paulo considered stopping there, but Sue's snobby attitude had rubbed off on him enough, "Unlike, say, _you._ "

"What?" Sue was mildly shocked. "What do you mean _me_?"

"Please Sue, we all know you're just trying to act smart. Remember the trip to the art gallery?" He inquired angrily, "I saw your face more than enough times to know you didn't know a damn thing about that shit, but you still wanted to look like a little genius."

"I...I don't!"

"There, see, you're doing it again."

Sue opened her mouth to defend herself, only to falter. Much as she hated to admit it, Paulo _did_ seem to have a point. A point that was quickly forgotten as she shook her head, determined to get something out of Paulo.

"And somehow you're better?" She demanded, "At least I try not to hurt anyone! You just act like an asshole to your friends, and run after anything with a short enough skirt!"

Now it was Paulo's turn to falter. "Well..." A few seconds passed while he thought of something to say, "Gah! You know what? Fine then, I hate my friends, and I'm a womanizer. Happy now? Gonna go back to acting like a snotty little bitch because you got what you wanted out of me?"

"I...I didn't mean it like that..." Sue replied, slightly regretting her choice of words.

"Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that!" Paulo mocked, "Fuck off. Next time make sure you actually give a shit about the other person's feelings."

"I do!"

"Even if you do, does it change anything? You still hate me. You're still gonna call me out on whatever tiny thing pisses you off. You're still gonna act like little miss know-it-all and feign surprise when someone challenges that."

Sue opened her mouth, hoping there was still a chance to calm him down. But the look on Paulo's face told her everything she needed to know. Sue sniffled slightly, a few tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes, "I...I'm sorry..."

"Errr...Sue, wait..." A slight twinge of regret tugged at Paulo as he noticed her starting to cry. In a way, he wanted to see her suffer slightly, but there was something about what he said which caused him to slowly begin regretting his actions.

Unfortunately he could only watch as she turned away from him, successfully hiding her face, but not the sniffling sound she made. Paulo tried to think of something to say, but could only wallow in increasing guilt as he observed the result of his outburst.

"God, Sue you're...you're right..." Paulo finally admitted, unable to hide his regret.

Through her tear-filled eyes, Sue managed to look behind her at Paulo in confusion, "I really am just a good-for-nothing jerk..." The hurt in his voice caused Sue a pang of regret, but she did little other than watch as Paulo leaned against a nearby locker and slowly slid down it until he was sitting on the floor.

Covering his face with his hands, Paulo reflect deeply on his actions, unaware of Sue silently walking over to stand beside him. While still hurt by his words, she didn't want to see Paulo miserable. At first she refused to do anything, as the pain was still fresh in her mind, but seeing him sit on the floor, deeply regretting his actions made her decide she should do something to help. Slowly she sat down beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders in a meager attempt to comfort him.

Noticing the sudden presence of Sue's arm, Paulo uncovered his face and looked over at the cat beside him. Her tears were mostly gone, and she seemed somewhat willing to help, but he could still see a hint of sadness in her eyes, "Why do you care?" He eventually asked, "I just made you cry, and now you're..."

Sue sighed, unable to think of a way to adequately voice her sentiments, "Well...It still hurts, but," She bit her lip, "I'd rather not see you miserable..."

Paulo scoffed, "A minute ago you wanted exactly that. Why the change of heart?"

"I don't know," She admitted, "Suppose I have been a little mean to you..."

"So you finally admit it, huh?"

Sue stared at him, equally hurt and angered. Paulo paused, "Err...wrong thing to say."

"It's okay..." Sue reassured him, "But...why are you that way?"

"Eh?"

"Not trying to be mean, I just...don't understand why you disregard so many things."

Paulo sighed as certain memories began to resurface. _She deserves to know,_ He told himself, yet he was hesitant to do so, "You really want to know?"

Sue paused, but nodded soon after.

"You know about my...fear of barking, right?" He asked eventually.

"Yeah..."

"Well...This'll sound crazy, but back in sixth grade I was actually rather...shy." He admitted, turning his head slightly as to not see Sue's reaction.

"Sure as hell didn't like it though," He continued, "See, back then I really had a thing for Lucy...Couldn't get near her no matter how hard I tried. I was just to nervous to really say anything...Till I met this one guy..."

 _"Cute, isn't she?"_

 _A young Paulo looked behind him in confusion. "...What?"_

 _"Or do you have your eyes set on some other girl you're too scared to talk to?"_

 _"What are you..." Paulo attempted to ask, only to pause as he realized what the stranger asked him._

 _"I've seen you moping around like a big baby," The stranger continued, "You have potential, though...Let me help you. I'l make you flow with confidence...maybe you'll win the girl?"_

 _When Paulo refused to say anything, the stranger smiled deviously. "So...what do you say? Need a boost, kid?"_

 _Paulo paused, thinking hard about the offer presented to him. On one hand, the offer was shady enough as it was, but on the other...a chance to be able to talk to Lucy. After a slight bit of hesitation, Paulo stepped forward._

 _"Yeah, sure..."_

"Never shoulda messed with that guy," Paulo continued telling Sue, "But I really wanted to talk to Lucy..."

Paulo paused, seemingly unwilling to keep telling his story. Confused, Sue attempted to probe further, "...Then what?"

"He taught me quite a few useful things honestly," Paulo confessed, pausing again as he hesitated to continue, "Then it all went to my head. By the time I actually did talk to Lucy... _Then_ I realized I messed up."

"Is...that it?" Sue inquired after another small bout of silence.

"Oh no," Paulo laughed slightly, "It gets worse..."

Clearing his throat, Paulo opened his mouth to continue once more, "Turns out that one guy had been watching..."

 _"JERK!"_

 _POW!_

 _A younger Paulo lifted a hand to his stinging cheek. It hurt, but seeing Lucy walk away, mumbling something about 'all the rest'...Somehow it hurt more._

 _Suddenly he heard a laugh from behind him, "Haha, so it was lil' blue eyes you were after?"_

 _Paulo spun around, immediately recognizing the figure as the person who had 'taught' him about confidence. And who had also caused him to lose his chance with Lucy._

 _"Don't sweat it, kid...I've been hitting on that girl for quite a while...She won't put out."_

 _"Hey, leave her alone!" Paulo snapped, thoroughly annoyed with how the other person spoke of Lucy._

 _The other person didn't take kindly to Paulo's words. "Don't talk to me like that..."_

 _"Put out?" Paulo asked angrily, "No, you better stay away from her or you'll hear from ME, okay?"_

 _"I've helped you out and this is how you treat me?" The person asked, ears folded back, "I think I did_ too _well a job..."_

 _By now Paulo had already hauled himself off the floor. He turned to leave, no longer willing to be with the person that cost him Lucy, "Shuttup, I owe you nothing."_

 _"Better watch your back then, little brat..."_

 _Paulo refused to face him, "Empty threats, jackass."_

"As you can imagine, he sure as hell didn't like hearing that," Paulo continued, back in the present once again, "That afternoon, in the park...First they just tried to rough me up, but then," Paulo swallowed hard, vividly remembering what came next, "Then they found out I hate barking..."

Sue gasped softly, "Paulo I...I'm sorry..."

Paulo's eyes began to grow misty, but he force himself to finish his story, "I've never been so scared before, Sue...They just wouldn't stop..."

Shutting his eyes, Paulo took a moment to collect himself, "By the time it was over I kept telling myself I wouldn't be weak," He sighed, "Guess I got what I wanted." He finished sadly.

Silence fell between the two cats once again as Paulo's story came to an end. Sue stared at him, hand covering her mouth as she desperately thought of some way to comfort him.

"Anyway," Paulo eventually broke the silence, "Looks like his _'teachings'_ stuck...Happy now?" He asked.

"...No," Sue admitted, "Paulo I'm...sorry you went through that...that sounds horrible."

"Well, not like I can really do anything," Paulo brought his knees close to his chest, hugging them slightly while he stared at the floor in a meager attempt to distract himself.

"How bout you then?" Paulo eventually asked, "What's your problem?"

Sue was taken aback, "What?"

"Err, I didn't mean it like that, honest..." Paulo quickly told her, "But...you just seem to act like you're so smart, like you're the only sane one. Why?"

Sue's face fell. There was no point in trying to defend her actions. Paulo had already opened up to her, it only seemed fair she attempted to do the same, "Honestly...I don't know for sure..."

"You don't know." Paulo stated incredulously.

"Well," Sue paused, unsure of what to say, "...Suppose I just never wanted to look like the dumb one. Everyone always told me I was pretty smart, but when I realized I actually wasn't...felt I needed to keep up the image," She bowed her head slightly, "Looks like it went to my head too."

"Mmm, that it?"

"Kind of...Don't take this the wrong way, but I look at you, me, almost all my other friends...Sometimes it really does seem like I am the only sane one..." She confessed, keeping her voice low as she finished her explanation.

"I see." Was all Paulo said in response.

"...Please don't be angry," She begged, "I don't want to, but...that's how it feels."

"I think we both know how it feels, Sue."

Sue contemplated saying something in response, only to realize she had nothing to say. Instead she fell quiet, observing the floor of the school as intently as Paulo was, until she felt more had to be said.

"Well," She finally spoke up, "Sorry for snapping at you like that...I've been looking forward to this field trip, and seeing you disregard it like that..."

"Not just your fault," Paulo replied, "I suppose I needed to hear that, but, well," His face fell slightly, "I didn't mean to make you cry. Didn't mean to snap at you either. I'm sorry, Sue..."

"I'll be fine, Paulo, but what about you?" She asked, "I don't want to see you miserable."

Paulo laughed dryly, "Like hell you do."

"I'm serious!" Sue exclaimed, "Look, Paulo, you can't deny I've been mean to you. I just feel I should make it up somehow."

"Why the hell would you want to help me?" He asked, still somewhat unconvinced by her motives.

She offered him a smile, "What are friends for?"

Paulo stared at Sue's welcoming face for a second, trying hard to contain his laughter, "Pffft. You and me friends...Really, Sue?"

Sue's face twisted into one of annoyance, "Ok, yes, we've never really on good terms," She attempted a smile again, "But why not try and change that?"

"Well," Paulo hesitated, pondering the offer. Sue watched expectantly as Paulo thought for a moment longer before coming to a decision, "You know what? Sure."

A smile beamed on Sue's face as she suddenly drew Paulo closer to her. At first he resisted, but soon relented. Once comfortable next to Sue, Paulo fully relaxed, and brought his own arm around her shoulder.

Their warm embrace lasted a while, but soon footsteps were heard in the distance, and eventually Mike's grey head poked around the corner, "Hey guys? They sent me to check on you. Might want to get back to the table soon."

The two watched silently as Mike disappeared and walked back down the hallway. They continued to say nothing to each other, until Paulo started to get up, "Guess we should be heading back then."

Sue attempted to stop him, "Hey wait before we do." Paulo stopped and turned around to listen to what she had to say, "The museum trip...I'm not gonna force you to like it, but. Could you _maybe_ try to be interested?"

Paulo took a moment to think. He decided he owed her something after the short talk the two had, and he _did_ have to start somewhere on trying to be a better person...

Paulo sighed, "Ehhh fine, I'll try..."

Despite the slight irritation in his voice, Sue's eyes lighted up with excitement and she grinned widely, "Really?"

"Only for you tho-" Paulo was caught off by Sue suddenly rushing forward to hug him. He inhaled sharply in surprise, but quickly settled into an awkward silence. When it was clear Sue wasn't going to let go quickly, Paulo grudgingly returned the embrace, and the two separated a few seconds later.

"Well..." Said Paulo awkwardly, "I uhh...suppose we really should head back now..."

"Yeah..." Sue's voice trailed off as she shifted her foot nervously, offering a smile soon after, "Thanks, Paulo."

A warm smile appeared on Paulo's face, "You too, Sue."

* * *

 **Behold: A remastered version of my first published BCB fanfic. Not really much I can say about it. Still slightly inspired by Fuzzy Wuzzy by Snoregore.**


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